By Matt Youngfrau
MONTICELLO  August 7, 2001  After nearly five years, it appears there will finally be closure in the Concord bankruptcy case.
On Thursday, August 2, Sullivan County Attorney Ira Cohen announced that Bankruptcy Judge Adlai S. Hardin, Jr. approved a stipulation which will provide an extra million dollars to be added to the settlement. The money comes from extra funds in the Concord Pension Trust.
With this action, a settlement is now possible, since Cohen said he will request that the court reconvert the case from a Chapter 7 back to a Chapter 11 bankruptcy.
"We are optimistic the case will be resolved by the end of the calendar year," Cohen stated. "It should be a favorable settlement for the county."
"This is great news for the county," Sullivan County Legislature Chair Rusty Pomeroy stated in a press release. "The resolution of the numerous and complicated legal issues, one by one, has been going on for the past several years, and there is clearly a light at the end of the tunnel."
This should bring the amount of the estate to approximately $7 million. Among the creditors to be paid are the county, New York State, the trustee, the attorneys, the accountants, and several others. Cohen is hopeful the conversion will be done by the end of August, as he wants to file a plan by early winter and see the case settled by the end of the year.